Nightkits' Sorrow
by Penelope Zozes
Summary: For Phantom of the Opera and Warriors fans. Nightkit was born disfigured. His mother denied him, others shunned him. See how Nightkit survives and later finds love.


**I do not own Warriors or anything that is owned by Erin Hunter except my OC's. **

Prologue

It was raining the night that Nightkit was born. His mother, Brindlelight, was a proud warrior of Thunderclan. It surprised some of the other mothers that she only had one kit. What didn't was that she never had another. Cloudwing, her mate, had been killed in a border attack the previous day of her kitting.

Shadowclan had laid claim to a piece of Thunderclan territory that was suitable for nothing. The fight was quick, but took more than one life. The Clans were in unrest, so the attack was no surprise.

When Brindlelight kitted, the whole gorge was silent except for her cries.

"I can't take it!" She hissed as another pain went through her body.

"You're doing fine, it's almost over," Leafshadow, the medicine cat meowed. The young tortoiseshell gestured for her apprentice to come closer. "Stonepaw, when the sack comes out, nip it so that it opens."

Stonepaw nodded his head. "Okay, Leafshadow."

Leafshadow put her paws on Brindlelights' stomach. "Push!"

Brindlelight pushed and cried out in pain. A loud clap of thunder followed.

When the little kit came out, Stonepaw was ready. He quickly nipped the sack and the kit fell out.

Leafshadow picked up the small, black kit and put him to his mothers' belly. "A male. There are no more kits." She looked at Brindlelight, who glanced up from licking her kit.

"What?" She returned to licking until she gasped in disgust. She pushed the kit away and looked at him.

The kit was all black. What had caused his mother disgust was his face. He was missing his right ear and the right side of his face was deformed. There was no fur over the gnarled flesh and his little unopened eye was sunken in. He looked like a dead cat on that side of his face.

Leafshadow just stared. She had never seen anything like this before. Pushing him back to his mother, she gasped as Brindlelight pushed him back.

"I don't want to have anything to do with that monster. Get rid of it!"

Leafshadow again pushed the kit toward Brindlelights' belly. "You have to feed it. It would go against the Warrior Code if you neglected it."

Brindlelight stared at Leafshadow through the slits of her eyes. "That thing should is not a kit. It's a monster!" She hissed.

"At least name him!" Leafshadow thought she owed that to the kit.

"Fine! I'll name it Nightkit, for it is not fit to see the light of day with a face such as that." The queen rolled away from Leafshadow, turning her back to her.

All the while, the little kit cried pitifully for milk. Through closed eyes he could not see the hate in his mothers' eyes nor the pity in the medicine cats'.

Stonepaw sniffed the young kit and recoiled in horror at his face. "Leafshadow, what are you going to do? It'll die won't it?"

Leafshadow turned sharply to the apprentice. "No! I will not allow it! This kit shall not die. I will find a way..." Her voice faded to a whisper.

The thunder continued outside the nursery den...

}{

The next day, the camp was abuzz with the news of the kit. Owlstar, the leader, called everyone to High ledge. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather under High ledge." His voice echoed throughout the stone gorge.

All the warriors, apprentices, and elders came out of the dens to hear what Owlstar had to say. The queens tried to keep the kits inside the den, to no avail.

Leafshadow poked her head out of her den. She very much dreaded this. What was she supposed to do, lie to the Clan leader? She had told him everything. Owlstar had listened, but concern had creased hi features as she spoke. He had told her that he would announce to the Clan about Nightkit despite the kits' appearance.

"Thunderclan! Last night a new addition to the Clan was born. We thank Starclan for the gift of our kits. They are the future. Nightkit was born into Thunderclan and will surly be a great asset in the future. He does however have a physical defect that may be unsettling to some."

No one except Brindlelight, Leafshadow, and Stonepaw had seen Nightkit. Leafshadow kept him in her den. Brindlelight had still refused to feed him. Leafshadow had done her best.

Whispers spread through the cats as they looked up at Owlstar. "...defect? I never heard..." "...talking about?..." "...a kit born with..."

Owlstar yowled for attention. "Whatever he may look like, Nightkit is still a member of this Clan. He will be treated like any other kit." Yowls echoed around the gorge.

"Well, what does he look like?" Sharpfang, a tom elder shouted.

"Yes, can we see him?" A she-cat warrior, Sandleaf questioned.

Owlstar sighed. "Leafshadow, could you bring Nightkit out?" The young medicine cat shook her head. "Please?"

Leafshadow slipped back into her den and carried the little bundle of fur in her mouth. Nightkit mewed loudly in protest.

The whole Clan gasped as they beheld the kit. Some of the few elders said is was a bad omen. The queens hid their kits. Even the strongest of warriors felt sick. Owlstar looked upon the kit with great pity...

}{

One of the queens, Flowerclaw, went to Leafshadow. "Leafshadow, I can take Nightkit and feed him. I couldn't bear to see a kit die like he would. I have plenty of milk and my kits still have their eyes shut. If they open their eyes to him they might be more likely to accept it."

Leafshadow sighed in relief. "Thank you, Flowerclaw. It doesn't bother you?"

"It does to a degree. But if he was born to Thunderclan, then Starclan must have a destiny for him. I don't believe he's a bad omen like the elders are saying. Like I said, Rosekit, Featherkit, and Mousekit are still small enough." Flowerclaw bowed her head.

Leafshadow was still surprised. "Alright. I'll go get him. He's been sleeping in my nest so comfortably. I feel like he's my kit somehow." She went deeper into her den and carried Nightkit out. He thrashed and mewed. She set him down in front of Flowerclaw.

Flowerclaw gingerly picked the kit up and carried him back to the nursery.

Brindlelight had since moved back into the warriors' den. She denied Nightkit even though he had Cloudwings' fur color and his same lithe body.

No one spoke to Brindlelight because she was going against the Warrior Code*...

}{

Owlstar called Leafshadow to his den. "Leafshadow, what do you think we should do about Nightkit?"

"I don't know. He could still train as a warrior, but I'm not sure how he could..."

"I understand your concern, Leafshadow. With that disfigurement, he would be at the mercy of ridicule from the other Clans, as well as his clanmates."

Leafshadow glared and lashed her tail. "They shouldn't! He's just a kit. It's not his fault..."

Owlstar put his tail on her shoulder. "I understand your anger, Leafshadow. I will try my hardest to take care of him. He needs a father and I could train him when he becomes an apprentice as well."

Leafshadow sighed. "Thank you, Owlstar. Flowerclaw is going to nurse him until he's old enough. I'll be responsible for him. I'll never be able to have kits so I'll treat him as if he were mine." She stepped down the stones and made her way across the gorge to the nursery.

Mewls of small kits emanated from the den. At this time there were three queens with their kits. Flowerclaw, with Rosekit, Featherkit, and Mousekit. She also had Nightkit. Mothpetal, with Sparrowkit, Tigerkit, and Graykit. Snowberry, with Bramblekit, Stormkit, and Icekit. Snowberrys' kits already had their eyes open. Leafshadow felt sad when she seen they stared at Nightkit and were scared of him.

"Flowerclaw."

The queen looked up drowsily. "Leafshadow? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to check on Nightkit. Is he doing alright?" Leafshadow truly was worried the young queen would decide to change her mind.

Flowerclaw purred. "Everything is fine." She shot a look at the kits that were peeking out from behind their sleeping mother. "You might want to have a short word with those kits." Concern flickered in her eyes.

Leafshadow nodded. "I will. Bramblekit, would you come over here please?"

The little tabby tom tip-toed over to Leafshadow. "Yes, Leafshadow?" He squeaked.

Leafshadow leaned down to look at him. "Why are you and your siblings looking at Nightkit that way?"

Bramblekit looked up at her nervously. "Because he's scary looking. Is he a monster?"

The medicine cat stiffened. "No, he is a kit, just like you. He just has a wound that will never heal. Look at him again. Does he look like a monster?"

Bramblekit peered over at Nightkit, who was curled up and sleeping near Flowerclaws' belly with her kits. "He doesn't seem scary now. I'm sorry for the way we looked at him, Leafshadow. We just were scared of his face." He bowed his little head.

Leafshadow licked his head. "It's alright, Bramblekit. Just remember, never judge a warrior by his battle scars. A tough looking warrior might be as sweet as honey. Or a scarred kit might just grow up to be Clan leader."

Bramblekit looked up and bounded away to his siblings.

Flowerclaw cleared her throat. "That was very good, Leafshadow. It's too bad it goes against the Warrior Code, you'd make a great mother."

Leafshadow turned to walk out. "Thanks, but I'll just be mother to my Clan." With that she headed back to her den...

**Was it okay? For all Phantom of the Opera fans: Nightkit is Erik( the Phantom), Leafshadow is Madame Giry. For Warrior fans: *Code 12. No warrior may neglect a kit in pain or in danger, even if that kit is from a different Clan. The first part applies because Brindlelight wouldn't feed a hungry Nightkit. Depending on how many reviews I get I may or may not continue. I have other stories (well, story) I'm working on so... R&R! ^^**


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